Peter Goldsbury

Good Morning, Ellis,

(It is 8.45 and I have just got up and gone to my computer.)

An impasse? No. I do not think so. Anyway, this post is only the sixth post in this thread and I think there will be a few more before anything approaching a conclusion is reach.

Basically, I am approaching HIPS in the same way that I would approach a doctoral thesis about a historical character (in this case, Takeda Sokaku and those with whom he came into close contact). Are the data / speculations well grounded in fact and is the narrative (he 'rhetoric', if you like) well grounded in the data? What are the limitations of Tokimune's articles and interviews and can they be supported by other evidence, from sources that are no way influenced by him? Do the frames and metaphors (in a very general way) match the narrative, or do you take unwarranted liberties, or attempt to fit the data into a narrative framework that is inappropriate? In other words, if I were to study the same sources and go over the same ground that you have done, would I end up with much the same conclusion? Or would I need other knowledge, which does not appear in your sources?
Actually, I still have the pages of notes sent to me by the professors who formed my thesis committee. One in particular, long passed away, sent me pages and pages of very detailed stuff, all criticisms. Had I taken the next step and made the thesis into a book, I would have started from this material.

Of course, I know that you have not written a PhD thesis, but you have certainly written one of the very few works of quality on Daito-ryu and aikido published in the last few years. As such it deserves to be examined with great care, right down to the minor details.

I will go through your numbered comments (there are two 3s, by the way) later today, as time permits.

Best wishes,

PAG